Thanks, Gringostr. Hoping to maiden the 330L EP tomorrow (Saturday) as weather conditions are looking good, only inhibitor is that the field is still pretty wet, but I'm relatively confident I'll be able to fly it tomorrow. Stay tuned for video over the next few days if the maiden happens.

I did a final measure of AUW with AND without the 2 x 3S 2650mAh 40C LiPo (Turnigy) packs installed:

So the battery pack adds 1 lb. of weight, that was more or less expected. A heavier plane generally flies better in the winds, it's rare that we have calm days around here so the heavier flying weight has its advantages as heavier planes are more stable in windy conditions. The only disadvantage is that the 330L will need to be brought in with some speed for a smooth landing, really no different than the Nitro-powered planes that I own and fly fairly regularly. A 46 motor is only 2-3 oz. lighter than the 60 motor that I used, but 6S is generally too much current for most 46 size electric motors so 5S is generally the limit. Overall, if the 330L was powered by a 46 size brushless motor, I would only expect a weight difference of about 6-7 oz. overall. Dropping to a 32 size motor would drop the model weight by nearly 1 lb. (or more), but I still think a 32-size motor is too small for this bird.

C/G was amazingly spot-on, as per the assembly manual, no adjustments or battery pack relocation necessary. I threw a couple of Align T-Rex 600 velcro straps into the battery area to secure the coupled 3S battery packs to the plywood frame, they're easy to work with and remove if necessary, they run about $5 per pair at local hobby shops.

I had this bird and have wings and from fuse back if anyone is interested in them 20.00$ plus ship. Also be sure to tighten wing nuts good they work themself loose very easy. Also be sure to have pul pull servo wires tight.

No video yet, Gringostr, hopefully I'll have one up in the next week or so. Weather this weekend is supposed to be lousy, so there goes any chance I have of flying over the weekend. I did get the chance to fly the 330L EP a bit last week to trim it out and make some adjustments in the air, but the field was rough/wet and the 330L wanted to tip stall too easily when slowed down, which was a concern for landing approach. I got it down ok but had to come in fast to avoid disaster. I'm working on reducing the flying weight, which will start by using smaller LiPo backs, so I'll be going down to 6S 2200mAh from 6S 2650mAh. Sometimes a few oz. can mean the difference between major tip stall tendencies to virtually no tip stall tendencies.

The Turngiy 50-65A provides a ton of power to the 330L, more than enough. Full throttle is not even necessary, but at full throttle I'd estimate the plane to be cooking at 70mph+. I had no one out at the field with me the day of the maiden so I didn't get video. However, now that Spring is staring to edge its way in, there should be plenty around to help w/video the next time I fly the bird. More to come...

FYI...I ended up replacing the stock pull-pull metal wire with thicker 50-lb. rated stainless steel wire (meant for hanging mirrors, etc.) at a local hardware store. The stock pull-pull wire breaks too easily, don't think it's rated for more than 10 lbs. of tension. I would also think that 25-lb+ test fishing line would be more than sufficient for the pull-pull rudder on the Extra 330L. I'll post photos of what I did shortly...

Got a good flight today at a local school (so that I could use a large parking lot as a landing strip). I brought the camera along and had someone else film the flight, but unknowingly the camera battery was nearly dead so not much was filmed, I'll work on getting that small clip posted shortly.

I did however log power usage with my EagleTree micro logger. That Turnigy 50-65A is pulling nearly 1100W on a 2200mAh 45C 6S LiPo Pack on takeoff, but overall watt usage wasn't too bad in the air. The motor with that 14x8.5 APCe prop has plenty of power to hang the airframe by the prop. As for landing, Extra's (like warbirds) need to be brought in with speed. The trick with the Extra is that it wants to float, so setting it down can be tricky. I've posted a power graph after a 5-minute flight, the sudden Watt increases were from bail-outs after a few practice stall attempts up high as well as some landing approaches.

This is long overdue, but here's a video of my Extra 330L-EP (from today) in flight. I was the pilot, a buddy of mine filmed out at our AMA field (which is rather rough and not mowed very well right now), though he had a difficult time keeping the plane in the radar due to bright sunlight bouncing off the LCD viewer in the camera. Video is in 720p so select the 720p HD option within the YouTube window and watch full-screen for the best viewing. Better than nothing I guess...

Can't blame him for not being able to keep the Extra in the camera viewer, that Extra hauls at around 80mph at 2/3rds throttle, it was whizzing by too fast for him. Think it's gonna need 3" wheels, will take off the pants and will use the Dremel to widen the opening in the pants to fit larger wheels, I upgraded to 2.5" wheels as they were the largest wheels that would fit within the pants, but I need to go up another 1/2" to avoid nosing over on landing.